Actually if you’ve been around the anime music scene long enough you would know this too. Especially soundtrack nerds. And it’s not just rock…

I think part of it is also a matter of how much music you’ve listened to. A lot of people just like songs they hear and don’t actively seek out interesting stuff on its own basis because it’s not necessarily tied to the same kind of stuff they care about. A part of it is also your musical upbringing, if you’ve listened to a wide variety of music or more progressive stuff, you tend to have a more open mind about that stuff.

Speaking just for myself, I also have a bias towards music that I’ve seen live. And songs that would sound good live! Not something people normally consider if they don’t go to live shows on a regular basis.

That’s a really big sweeping statement. So technically, would you say Bieber (or the people behind him) writing the classic hit, Never Say Never, would be more impressive than well, Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (1st thing that came to my mind for a classical piece with around the same time-stamp)?

Of course in the case of this tournament, it’s probably more due to the fact that it’s an instrumental piece, which has earned your disdain. Look, opinions matter. Am not disagreeing with your thoughts on Guns and Roses, if you don’t like it, that’s fine, But just mentioning that making a song is more impressive than that is quite a general thing to say.

It’s also an OP, which makes it legit atm. So there isn’t a solo vocalist. But man, that baritone sax kills it in its solo. So smooth, utterly cool. Or that trumpet section, their interplay before it moves into the chorus which is then taken up by the alto(?) sax later in the piece. Also, I agree with Taka and say that it’s not a BGM, just as the Star Wars theme is not a BGM. Guns and Roses is the music focus of the show. You say Baccano, I think of trains, killer gymnasts, smiling thieves and Guns and Roses.

Hum a random tune ignoring quality. Note how difficult that is (its not)
Now write the lyrics for that tune. Note how difficult that is.

Add the instruments for the random tune. Note how difficult that is.
Add the instruments for the random tune AND vocals. Note how difficult that is which btw may not even be you singing it.

Can you make a very impressive melody? Sure. Is it as impressive as the effort in making an actual song? No. The same person who made the melody will have to expend more effort to make a song, aka comparing a A from high school to a E from university.

Bruh, I know how the songwriting process works, I didn’t really need you to tell me. Also, you’re still simplifying BGM down to just a melody. Like, obviously, it will only have as many parts as the composer decides to give it. If you put in those extra parts, though, you have a lot more to think about than if you’re just playing in a four-piece rock band. You have to think about shit like voice-leading or making sure that secondary melodies don’t surpass the primary melodies or atmosphere and tone or dynamics or instrumentation or harmonizing instruments that might be in totally different keys or so on and so forth. It’s not always as simple as “just a melody”. But whatever, I kinda get the point you’re trying to make; it’s not a clear-cut “SONGS ARE ALWAYS MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN COMPOSITIONS” matter, though, it’s entirely dependent on each individual piece.
Also, dude, if you’re gonna correct me on spelling, make sure you don’t make any errors yourself.

I disagree Omo. I think that BGM specifically refers to the incidental themes of a movie that influence the way we perceive the action going on in the show. Like the theme from JAWS or Inception, they can gain focus after the fact, but in the scene they are not the primary focus. I would argue that OP music, especially that of Baccano that sets the animation to the music, is meant to be a primary focus. It is also a mood setter to an extent but the music takes much more precedence than “tinkly piano bgm number 4”.

Sorry, no. OP music is still just OP music. If the music is the focus, it would be a music video. Now some anime OP are just like music videos, but in Baccano this is definitely not the case. It’s pretty clear the OP music follows the motif of the anime, not the other way around. It is not the/a primary focus.

A better example of what you’re saying, Taka, is something like Ichiban no Takaramono, because it’s actually in the anime, in that characters sing and play the actual song. So it’s totally the focus, it’s not “background” at all. For an example of the OP, it would be more like, say, READY or something, where the animation does treat the music entirely as if it’s an music video. I mean, people dance to it. I don’t think this is at all the case in Baccano, where the only thing that matches the music is the motif and the storyboard/direction.

Just because the music draws your attention doesn’t make it not background, you understand? :p

Here’s another litmus test of sorts–there ARE actual music videos from OP/ED themes, where they use footage from the anime as part of the video.

Can you see Baccano OP being used as is this way to the song? No way. They would have to change it up a whole lot first. On the other hand things like Garden of Words’s end theme has a much better argument being what you say it is, even if it’s just accompanying the animation when it’s used in the movie. And it’s used in a very similar way in the actual PV for Rain.

I still disagree Omo. Baccano I think could perfectly well play out in the music video of its OP. Mostly because it already does. You write off motif and storyboard/direction but some music videos are used as storytelling vehicles you know. They don’t all involve people just dancing to the melodies that they make up. How about Melancholy Hill from the Gorrillaz album Plastic Beach. The song is enjoyable by itself but the Gorrilaz music videos have build up an entire narrative around their character that has spanned albums. The music video just advances the narrative. But that’s neither here nor there because Baccano isn’t telling a narrative but the animation and storyboarding is driven by the music. I don’t see why they have to dance to it for it to be considered primary focus.

I also think your litmus test is ridiculous. Whether a music video uses or doesn’t use footage from an anime has no grounds in this argument. Aside from the few examples (emphasis on few) that exist determining whether an anime would or would not be suited for a music video is a matter of pure speculation.

One thing I’m really confused over in this tournament is whether it’s about vocal tracks or not. When I check the “About” page, I only see OPs, EDs and BGMs be mentioned, but I’m rather sure it was about vocal tracks when the tournament started… can someone explain?